User blog:Porterfield/Introducing Star Wars Detours

When Seth Green and Matthew Senreich flew up to NorCal in 2009 for a meeting with George Lucas, one might think they were headed to the principal's office for a scolding. If Lucas had beef with the duo's critically-acclaimed Star Wars themed episodes of Robot Chicken, it wouldn't come as a surprise. Instead, Lucas told the comedians, "we want to make something funny because everyone else is doing it." Not only did he want to team up with Green and Senreich to make a humorous Star Wars series, he also offered them free reign, saying that whatever they made up in the show would become canon, and the fans would have to deal with it. Lucas envisioned a show that would be "Star Wars without the wars", and that folks, is the origin of Star Wars Detours, an animated comedy that will air on Cartoon Network. Of course, nobody knew diddly about this project until this morning.

Today, at Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando, Florida, a surprise panel was held. It was called "Super Secret Star Wars Panel with Todd, Seth, and Matt!" (Todd being Todd Grimes, their visual effects master) So, guess what the secret was? Behold, the trailer...



If you want to view full clips from the show, visit the Star Wars Detours Wiki (and feel free to help out, we are going to need an admin there!)

Having listened to the audio of the panel (which was full of some hilarious banter), there is no way these guys didn't use Wookiepedia as a reference. The may have narrowed the setting of the show down to three iconic locations (Tatooine, the Death Star, and Coruscant - specifically, inside of Dex's Diner), but there are still thousands of characters in the Star Wars universe to whom these guys can apply their comedic stylings. For starters, Seth Green voices "Major Steel", a serious hard-ass who dresses a baby Ewok in a major's uniform. Donald Faison and Breckin Mayer voice a pair of Stormtroopers, Faison having earned the part for being a die-hard Star Wars fan who made a stop-motion LEGO video called Black Stormtrooper. Emperor Palpatine is voiced by Seth McFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, and C-3P0, Lando, and Jar Jar Binks will all be voiced by their original actors, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Ahmed Best, respectively. Some of you might be sick from hearing Jar Jar mentioned, but the creators assured fans at the panel that, "it will either save his entire image, or you will hate him for a new reason entirely."

It should be noted that Star Wars Detours will take place between Episode 3 and Episode 4. And I want to reiterate what Seth Green said in the panel, "none of this is making fun of Star Wars, but more just thinking about what the Star Wars version of life is like!”

Now, check out the Star Wars Detours Wiki and prove how excited you are for this show. Comedy and Star Wars together at last! Perfect harmony!